Rainer began her career with Max Reinhardt in Germany as a teenager and she rose through the ranks to become a leading lady with his company. She also made a few appearances in German films and was scouted by American companies -- notably MGM which was always on the lookout for the next European who might be able to replace or, at least help keep in line, their temperamental star Greta Garbo. Rainer had to campaign to land her first leading role in American films in 1935's Escapade, a romantic comedy remake of the German Maskerade (1934). The film paired the actress with William Powell and she was to co-star opposite him in her next feature, the extravagantly produced biographical drama The Great Ziegfeld. While her role as the impresario's wife, whom he seduces, marries and abandons, isn't particularly large, Rainer made quite an impression on Depression-era audiences with a particular scene in which she telephones him to congratulate him on his marriage to Billie Burke. From the perspective of contemporary audiences, Rainer's performance might be considered a bit emotive but at the time it was enough to earn her the Oscar.
MGM set out to capitalize on her appeal but with her light German accent (even though the studio encouraged the notion that she was from Vienna) and her decidedly non-Hollywood approach, Rainer was difficult to cast. The studio teamed her Paul Muni to portray Chinese peasants in The Good Earth. Her character had little dialogue so Rainer had to rely on movement and her expressions to convey the character. Again, to contemporary audiences having Caucasian performers enact Asian characters borders on the racist, but it was the studio system which did not really allow for the grooming of leading men or leading ladies of ethnicity. Rainer once again impressed critics, audience and the Academy and picked up a second Oscar -- the first woman to win back-to-back awards, a feat not duplicated for thirty years.
Now that she had achieved that honor, the studio was at even more of a loss as to what to do with the actress. Offscreen, she had married playwright Clifford Odets and their relationship was tempetuous at best. Her feistiness spilled over into her work life at MGM as she often refused the roles the studio wanted her to play. After her double win, Rainer made a handful of films, of which only The Great Waltz (1938), about composer Johann Strauss was the best. By 1940, her Hollywood career was over, she divorced Odets -- the couple often worked on opposite coasts and his infidelities were fairly well-known -- and attempted to launch a stage career, appearing in Paris, London and New York, but to no avail.
Rainer made a one-shot return to movies during World War II with 1943's Hostages, before retiring from the big screen, In 1945, she married publisher Robert Knittel and divided her time between England and Switzerland while raising their daughter.
Over the years, there were rumors of returns: she had befriended playwright Bertolt Brecht who reportedly conceived a stage role for her -- but the story goes that the part was virtually a cameo and Rainer balked at playing it. Fellini had offered her a role in La dolce vita (1960) but Rainer and he clashed over the part and he dropped the idea. The actress continued to make occasional television appearances ("Combat" in 1965; "The Love Boat" in 1984), and a one-shot return to films (The Gambler, 1997) but Rainer found a new outlet for her talents after studying painting in London in the 1950s. After her husband's death in 1989, she settled in London.
Happy Birthday, Miss Rainer!
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